On 7 June 2023, twelve emerging and mid-career artists were announced as part of the 20/20 project—a national commissioning and network programme investing in a new generation of ethnically minoritized and diverse artists.
20/20 was launched in November 2021 by UAL Decolonising Arts Institute, working in partnership with 20 UK public collections, museums and galleries. The project has been generously supported by a £300,000 grant from Freelands Foundation, a £300,000 grant from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants Programme and funding from UAL.
The project was conceived in response to urgent calls for action within arts and culture in the wake of Black Lives Matter, as social inequities and racial injustices continued to be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.We are delighted that Adham Faramawy will be undertaking a residency at Kettle’s Yard, beginning in July 2023. Adham works across media including moving image, sculptural installation, print, painting and wall-based works, engaging concerns with materiality, touch, and toxic embodiment to question ideas of the natural in relation to marginalised communities.
Here’s what Adham has planned…
I’d like to talk to staff about the history of the place; the art, the flowers, the biological and mineral parts of the collection. The lemon in the pewter plate, the scented narcissi and the daffodils in Christopher Wood’s painting. I’d like to unearth their stories, the natural and cultural histories, mythologies and anecdotes, to make a work thinking about the domestic, the invitation, gathering, community, who’s allowed in, and what is erased. I’d like to use the archive and relationships between the artworks displayed, researching the stories, histories and mythologies of the plants, flowers, feathers and stones in the house as a route into a reconsideration, or reimagining of the house at Kettle’s Yard.
Adham Faramawy’s residency will lead to the production of a new artwork that will enter Kettle’s Yard’s permanent collection.
Professor susan pui san lok, 20/20 Project Director and Director of the Decolonising Arts Institute said:
We are thrilled to welcome the second cohort of artists to 20/20. This is an exciting phase in the 20/20 project – our first eight residencies are already in full swing, and it’s been wonderful to support the deepening development of ideas and relationships. We are looking forward to starting journeys with our second cohort of artists, as they delve into collections and help to generate richer understandings of the histories and contributions of overlooked objects and artists in their midst.
About 20/20
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